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Securing the Future of Food

Crop diversity is key to achieving sustainable food security both globally and within our own region of focus, the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico. Our approach to food security focuses on seed security, which relies on the conservation and sharing of appropriate crop diversity and the knowledge to use that diversity effectively. Our programs are designed to address these goals and broadly entail:

Seed banking to ensure the survival of unique agricultural biodiversity and to document its traits.

Seed distribution so that these crops continue to contribute to the region's food systems.

Support for on-farm maintenance of dynamically-evolving crop varieties.

Research into low-input and climate-appropriate agricultural practices.

Education in managing local crop diversity and contributing to regional efforts.

Many Ways to Get Seeds

Agricultural biodiversity is most valuable when it is actively used to strengthen local food and farming systems. With this in mind, Native Seeds/SEARCH strives to provide affordable public access to seeds of regionally-appropriate crop varieties. We have programs designed to meet the needs of many types of individuals and organizations.

ADAPTS: An online platform for exploring the contents of the NS/S seed bank collection. If you want to conduct a detailed search for appropriate crop varieties, start here. Otherwise, you may explore currently available seed varieties through our online store.

Seed Library: If you are in Tucson, Arizona, we encourage you to visit our seed library.

Retail Sales: If you are looking for seeds for personal use and are ineligible for seeds through our other programs, you may purchase seeds online or at our retail store in Tucson, Arizona. Some varieties are in limited supply and are restricted to NS/S members and Free Seed recipients.

ADAPTS: An online platform for exploring the contents of the NS/S seed bank collection. If you want to conduct a detailed search for appropriate crop varieties, start here. Otherwise, you may explore currently available seed varieties through our online store.

Bulk Seed Exchange: Makes bulk seed quantities available to farmers in exchange for a return of seeds after a successful harvest.

Retail Sales: If you are looking for seeds for personal use and are ineligible for seeds through our other programs, you may purchase seeds online or at our retail store in Tucson, Arizona. Some varieties are in limited supply and are restricted to NS/S members and Free Seed recipients.

ADAPTS: An online platform for exploring the contents of the NS/S seed bank collection. If you want to conduct a detailed search for appropriate crop varieties, start here. Otherwise, you may explore currently available seed varieties through our online store.

Community Seed Grants: Free seeds for organizations (including schools) that are working to promote nutrition, food security, education, agricultural sustainability, and/or community resilience.

Retail Sales: If you are looking for seeds for personal use and are ineligible for seeds through our other programs, you may purchase seeds online or at our retail store in Tucson, Arizona. Some varieties are in limited supply and are restricted to NS/S members and Free Seed recipients.

ADAPTS: An online platform for exploring the contents of the NS/S seed bank collection. If you want to conduct a detailed search for appropriate crop varieties, start here. Otherwise, you may explore currently available seed varieties through our online store.

Researchers: If you are a researcher interested in incorporating material from our collection into your research, please contact us. We are committed to continued open public accessibility of crop diversity and will not make seeds available for research purposes that are contrary to that goal.

Many Ways to Get Educated

At Native Seeds/SEARCH, we believe that education is an important key to building individual and community capacity for seed and food security. Our education offerings are intended to provide skills and knowledge around seed saving, aridlands agriculture, and related topics.

Courses and Workshops: Our instructional programming trains individuals and organizations in the Southwest to save, share, and produce their own seeds. We offer focused courses for students at different learning levels and seed saving goals.

Native Seeds/SEARCH Blog: Our blog is frequently updated with stories and practical advice related to the work that we do and the issues that we care about.

The Seedhead News: Our tri-annual newsletter also contains a wealth of useful information to help you get the most out of your seeds and to understand their cultural and historical contexts.